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Is Your Cell Phone Giving You a “Phone Face”?

Summary: If you’ve been looking down at your cell phone, you might be making yourself age a bit faster than you thought possible. Luckily, there are options for “cell phone face.”

Your Phone and Your Phone Face

Kids these days. They’ve got all kinds of technology right at their fingertips. From laptop computers to mobile phone devices, it seems that access to technology has never been easier. And for us old folks, that can be kind of intimidating. Look, the fact of the matter is that if you were born before a certain period, you’re just not used to all of these screens everywhere. But there are some ways in which these screens may be getting their revenge on our young friends.

If you think about the ways that kids interact with a mobile device, it usually involves looking down at that device. That can be a problem. The same way that gravity has an effect on your face over the years, it has an impact on the faces of the young as well. As they look down at their phones, gravity is pulling the skin down at an accelerated rate. It’s called “phone face.” And it seems to be aging our youth at an accelerated rate. Okay, okay, maybe not all of us are looking back at youth with disdain (or all that unyouthful ourselves). My point, however, is that the technology we take for granted today may be aging us a bit more quickly—giving us extra excess skin tomorrow.

The Cure for Phone Face

First off, phone face is indeed a real thing. And it does happen because you’re looking down at your screen. All of that time with your head at a downward angle translates into drooping cheeks and jowls. They won’t show up for many years, of course, but it’s not uncommon for excess skin to occur around the “apples” of the cheeks and around the jawline more generally. Thankfully, there are a few ways to address the problems that can occur from “phone face.”

Given the relatively young age of many of those who are developing “phone face,” some less invasive and permanent approaches are usually recommended first. Those approaches may include the following:

Dermal Fillers: Perhaps the go-to solution for increasing the amount of volume in the face, dermal fillers are a great way to fight the so-called phone face. Dermal fillers do this by, essentially, increasing the amount of volume beneath your skin. That volume to skin ratio is what will keep you looking youthful (it’s kind of like filling up a balloon that’s low on air). Dermal fillers generally last for somewhere between 12 and 18 months, so if you like the results you’ll have to go back for more.

Laser Treatments: Of course, the other approach is to tighten the skin. Many patients can accomplish this by signing up for laser treatments. During these procedures, lasers will be used to tighten the skin, often by stripping away the outermost layer or by encouraging certain healing processes to kick into overdrive. Laser treatments will generally require a few days in the way of recovery, but they’re a popular option among many patients.

Surgery for the Face

That said, you might come to a certain age in which surgery becomes inevitable. In these cases, a facelift will generally be your best option. Facelift surgery generally involves the removal of excess skin and making sure everything else is nice and smooth. According to the website of the Milwaukee facelift experts at Milwaukee Plastic Surgery, facelift procedures yield permanent results, and surgeons have long ago learned how to make those results look completely natural. So you won’t be stuck with that “plastic” look that many people fear (this usually results from the surgeon attempting to turn back the clock too far, doing too much—most often at the patient’s request).

However, modern facelift procedure leave the face looking quite natural, so most people likely won’t notice you’ve had work done. They’ll just notice you look more youthful, more vibrant, more alert, more content, and so on. It’s good stuff. I’m talking to you kids out there. You’re going to need a facelift someday, and that’s okay. Maybe they could call it the Facebook Facelift. Of course, by then, Facebook will probably be on its way out as a “cool” thing. Facebook is still cool, right?

Curing the Facebook Face

As long as you’re spending time on your mobile device, looking down at it, you’re going to have to deal with what it does to your skin. If that look bothers you, there’s plenty you can do about it in order to keep looking youthful.